Carlos Sainz finished tenth in a chaotic 2025 Canadian Grand Prix, scoring a valuable point for Williams.
He avoided early trouble and kept his race clean despite a heavy lock-up that nearly caused contact. Williams ran a steady strategy, keeping Sainz out longer than rivals. He gained ground as others faltered, including a fiery McLaren crash that triggered a late Safety Car. The Spaniard held firm to the end of the Canadian GP, delivering a composed drive and crucial result for the team.
Sainz “wished” to push for more points during the Canadian GP for Williams
Despite starting 16th, Carlos Sainz considered his tenth-place finish in Canada “a good result” under the circumstances. Frustrated by “the impeding of yesterday,” he felt the penalty set the tone for a tough afternoon. Throughout the Canadian GP, ongoing car issues meant Sainz spent “70 laps not pushing,” which limited his ability to fight.
Although he broke into the points, he admitted the situation left him “a bit frustrated.” According to Sainz, the Williams had more pace than the result suggested. Still, he viewed the single point as a small reward for a hard-fought race and a glimpse of the team’s true potential.
“Yeah, I think after the impeding of yesterday and obviously an unlucky situation starting 16, you would have told me before the race that we would get into the points.”
“It would have probably been a good result that I would take home with, but after having spent 70 laps managing issues and not being able really to push or race with issues in the car.”
“I’m a bit frustrated that we couldn’t spend 70 laps not pushing and still make it to the points. Obviously happy with that, but I wish I could have pushed a bit more and show the true potential that we have as a team.”
Qualifying during the Canadian GP weekend “was out of [Williams] control”
Qualifying proved challenging for Sainz as he was blocked by Isack Hadjar, an incident he described as “out of our control” and his turn for “one impeding” this season. While initially frustrated, Sainz said he would “take it in the chin and move on.”
“Yeah, I think Quali-wise, I think it was out of our control. Yesterday I was frustrated with everyone, with everything, but looking back during the year, you’re always going to get one impeding or two in qualifying per year.”
“It was my turn this weekend with Isack and it came in the wrong weekend where we were very competitive, but I take it in the chin and move on.”
Williams and Sainz “left a lot of points on the table” at the Canadian GP
During the race of the Canadian GP, despite ongoing car issues, he felt confident in the car’s pace, noting he was “faster than the whole midfield without even pushing.” Which caused Sainz and the team to lose points, that could have been potentially been theirs after the Canadian GP. He stressed the importance of Williams learning to “execute weekends better” to unlock the full potential of their performance.
“But at the same time today when I was doing the race, I was seeing that I was faster than the whole midfield without even pushing on this car with the issues we were handling, it makes me feel like we’ve left a lot of points on the table.”
“So still the story of the year. We need to execute weekends better to be able to maximise the performance we have.”
